Senators filing bills in reaction to Equifax data breach

By

The Associated Press

FILE – In this Feb. 24, 2015 file photo, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. is seen on Capitol Hill in Washington. The Corinthian 100 “strikers” who are refusing to pay back their loans have created a test case for how the department handles such borrowers. The former for-profit students want the department to discharge their loans, and provide relief to others who have been “subjected to illegal practices by their schools.” Their effort is backed by thirteen U.S. senators led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

BOSTON (AP) — Democratic senators from Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode Island are pushing bills after credit reporting company Equifax announced 143 million Americans had their information exposed — including Social Security numbers, birthdates and address histories.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren introduced legislation aimed at giving control over credit and personal information to consumers and preventing credit reporting agencies from profiting off of consumers’ information during a freeze.

Massachusetts Sen. Edward Markey joined with Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse to introduce a bill giving consumers the right to stop data brokers from selling personal information for marketing purposes.

Warren also sent letters to credit reporting agencies Equifax, TransUnion and Experian and requested the Federal Trade Commission and Consumer Financial Protection Bureau launch an investigation into consumer data security.